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Put it in OverDrive

I'm having a really fine time doing my 90 minute runs each morning. Spring has come upon the North Carolina mountains and exploring new trail is always a big day for master competitor. And a large component of the experience has to do with my Zune and audiobooks.

My latest is a detailed autobiography on Clint Eastwood. The "spaghetti western" hero and TV star of Rawhide went on to great fame as a director and producer. And the best part is that I'm listening to this and other great publications at no charge.

Check with your local library and see if they offer OverDrive download software. Once you have it installed you can select and manage your listening from a large array of material. If a popular book is "checked out" I can request it and put it on hold for the future. Most books have a 7 to 14 day check-out period.

As the years go by I listen to less music and more audiobooks. It expands what I might choose to read and surely takes me different places in the mind while I run.

If you have favorite content on the audio side, let me know and I'll post an update.

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(Disclaimer: I am a Brooks-supported athlete; as part of that relationship, I was provided a complimentary copy of "Eat & Run")

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It's a fast, enjoyable read. I've been around the ultra scene for a long time and have known some of the greats, i.e. ultra champ Eric Clifton. So it's always interesting to see how the world looks from another icon's point of view.

My thoughts in no particular order:

1) I've been vegetarian/borderline vegan for 12 years and have always been concerned with protein intake. Jurek advocates for the protein he naturally induces through his plant-based diet. Maybe that is enough. Maybe it's not necessary to bang down 100+ grams of protein supplement every day. Good info and good advice.

It's been a long time since I've been active on my blog. To be honest, I got tired of putting in the work, creating content, with so little feedback or response. Time to divert to other things...such as my new fiction book, coming out soon. Part horror story, part steamy romance. You'll definitely want a copy.

There's another reason I haven't been posting. My endurance spirit is broken.

Some medical issues, some sadness is loss of speed. I don't have much range left in my pulse rate and I have put on a blob of weight.

I "ran" my 10 mile loop this morning...in 2:18. Is that ugly, or what? An overall fatigue follows the run. I remember a few years ago, I'd bang it out in straight 9's for a 1:30 - and at that time had a long section of medium effort trail included, too.

It's the new normal. It's age appropriate. I'll be 59 in two weeks. Let's get real.

Rode my mountain bike Sunday after church. Don't know what I hit but I went…

You have to look closely (click and enlarge photo if needed), but when you do, check out the 5th metacarpal (bone furthest from thumb).

The diagonal break is symbolic of what happens when your mountain bike handlebars snap around 360 degrees, and those bars catch your hand against the bike frame during the rotation.

Well there you have it. I got up after my ride over the bars and knew something was wrong, but didn't want to admit it. Rode about three miles back to the car, then went a week with some ice and heat. Thought it was good, until I smacked the same bone on the bars during a road ride the following weekend.

Time to stop the charades and get to urgent care.

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